LICHTENBERGER, GRISCHA Treigbut (Raster-Noton) 12" 14.98

LICKETS, THE Here (On Earth) (International Corporation) lp 14.98
We talk all the time about not judging books by their covers, which for us often means bands by their band names, cuz really, the Flaming Lips, Bitchin Bajas, Bathtub Shitter (ok, that one's awesome), Cream Abdul Babar, Scrotum Poles, Agoraphobic Nosebleed, so many kick ass bands saddled with unfortunate monickers. NOT that we're lumping Bay Area duo The Lickets in with those outfits, but they do actually bring up another part of that whole book/cover, band/bandname situation, in that we never would have expected this sort of gloriously blissed out electronic psychedelic drift from a band called the Lickets. We were actually imagining this would be some sort of roots rock, or stripped down pop rock sort of thing, but this is anything but, The Lickets traffic in the sort of stuff aQ folks go nuts for: dreamy transcendental, glistening, textured kosmische psych folk drift of the highest order.
The tracks her merge billowy clouds of wispy chordal drift with constellations of subtle glitch, the edges worn away, the various sounds bleeding into one another, like the soundtrack to a time lapse film of two solar systems merging, hazy and spaced out, touching on the krautdrone of Expo 70, the gauzy melodic shimmer of Tim Hecker, the dreamlike drift of Pop Ambience, infused with little bits of classic krautrock. Acoustic guitars surface amidst swirling abstract pulsations, melodies melt and ooze, the tracks slowly expanding and evolving, occasionally slipping into something more overtly shoegazey, wrangling jangle guitars into vast smears of melodic blur, laced with tinkling chiming melodies, looped and layered into blustery soundscapes, while other tracks sound almost like old soundtracks to mysterious filmstrips about the emptiness of space, one track even shrugs off the hazy shimmer entirely, leaving just a sweetly lovely stretch of fluttery seventies style folk, replete with breathy vocals and wheezing accordion, before quickly returning to the bleary buzzy drift that defines the rest of the record. And as varied as the record is, the sounds are all held together by a lush, dreamlike melodic component that turns this set of songs into some sort of divine celestial songsuite. So good!
MPEG Stream: "Transpersonal Earth Spirals"
MPEG Stream: "The Intervals Between The Ordered Worlds"
MPEG Stream: "Here (On Earth)"

LICORICE ROOTS Shades Of Streamers (Essay) cd 15.98
Hmmm, sure sounds like these fellers have been chewing on something a bit more potent than licorice roots! While we're not sure about Shades Of Streamers' anti-inflammatory and expectorant properties we can confirm that the sound is strangely melted and slightly druggy. Originally signed to the more than appropriate New York art rock label Shimmy Disc (home to Bongwater, King Missile, early Boredoms, Ruins and Ween), Edward Moyse, Arthur Marks and Dave Milsom have been making experimental folk rock music for many moons that wavers and roams in the zone between Ariel Pink and Ween. Disarmingly warped.
MPEG Stream: "Starswept Dancer"
MPEG Stream: "Meteor Queene"

LIDELL, JAMIE Multiply (Warp) cd 16.98

LIECHTENSTEIN Survival Strategies In A Modern World (Slumberland) cd 10.98
If someone would have played this for us all 'invisible jukebox' style we would have sworn it was some '80s/early '90s lost gem in the same league as AQ favorites like Young Marble Giants, Vaselines, Shop Assistants, Talulah Gosh, Heavenly, etc. There is such a cool sound and energy to these songs, the vocals do really remind us of Amelia Fletcher (Talulah Gosh, Heavenly) which is a great thing, but the band does have a freshness to them which has kept this record on heavy rotation since it arrived in the store.
The way they draw from twee pop, garage rock, and girl groups to create such breezy and catchy delights is a wonder to behold. Lots of Survival Strategies reminds us of how much we loved the Aisler Set and how the time is ripe for them to reunite! Liechtenstein would make great tourmates for folks like Brilliant Colors or Vivian Girls or heck a reformed Aislers Set. We don't want to sound like a broken record, but man are we happy that Slumberland is back and putting out such great pop gems!
The 10" comes on colored vinyl and with a code for a free download of the album.
MPEG Stream: "Postcard"
MPEG Stream: "Reflections"
MPEG Stream: "White Dress"

LIECHTENSTEIN Survival Strategies In A Modern World (Slumberland) 10" 10.98
If someone would have played this for us all 'invisible jukebox' style we would have sworn it was some '80s/early '90s lost gem in the same league as AQ favorites like Young Marble Giants, Vaselines, Shop Assistants, Talulah Gosh, Heavenly, etc. There is such a cool sound and energy to these songs, the vocals do really remind us of Amelia Fletcher (Talulah Gosh, Heavenly) which is a great thing, but the band does have a freshness to them which has kept this record on heavy rotation since it arrived in the store.
The way they draw from twee pop, garage rock, and girl groups to create such breezy and catchy delights is a wonder to behold. Lots of Survival Strategies reminds us of how much we loved the Aisler Set and how the time is ripe for them to reunite! Liechtenstein would make great tourmates for folks like Brilliant Colors or Vivian Girls or heck a reformed Aislers Set. We don't want to sound like a broken record, but man are we happy that Slumberland is back and putting out such great pop gems!
The 10" comes on colored vinyl and with a code for a free download of the album.
MPEG Stream: "Postcard"
MPEG Stream: "Reflections"
MPEG Stream: "White Dress"

LIECHTI, PETER & VOICE CRACK Kick That Habit (Drag City) dvd 15.98

LIES, THE Resigned (Kill Rock Stars) cd 13.98
Local treasures The Lies know that on the one hand there's abject depression that's fun for no one including your audience, yet on the other hand there's the kind of romantic depression whose embodiment in musical form can be quite beautiful and delicate to behold. The latter is what The Lies excel in. This isn't the doleful folk downerisms perfected by Black Heart Trio; this is angular and bleak synth 'n guitar driven pop with a strong Joy Division / Talk Talk flavor. Dale Shaw's voice, while not as deep as Ian Curtis', is similarly heavy with a pale gravity that rings stark and true. The music is filled out with two guitars, sparse yet dramatic drumming, lush cello, wintry bare-trees-evoking piano, and utterly sadly melodic korg synth stylings. The Lies should cover "I Melt With You"! Recommended.
RealAudio clip: "Accident & Emergency"
RealAudio clip: "A Certain Surround"
RealAudio clip: "Sight & Sound"

LIES, THE Underdogs and Infidels (Kill Rock Stars) cd 11.98
A veritable local super group: Sadie and Sarah from the Bonnot Gang, Casey from Weakling, Tracy from Heavens To Betsy and Flying Tigers, and of course Dale, from Blood Sausage, the Bonnot Gang, the Cut Throats, and the video store across the street! Bleak and dark and hypnotic, like a dirgey garage band playing World of Skin, Tindersticks and Joy Division. Recommended.

LIETTERSCHPICH I Cum Blood In The Think Tank (Heart & Crossbone) cd 11.98
Another gorgeously abrasive wall of caustic crushing pounding noise from Israel's answer to Whitehouse. I Cum Blood In The Think Tank! is the first full length from these speaker brutalizing miscreants, and it's just as amazing as the 3" cd-r teaser we reviewed a while back. Like we said in that review, as much as we love Whitehouse, this is what we WISH Whitehouse sounded like. Dizzying swirls of blown out synth buzz, jagged shards of industrial crunch, massive slabs of fuzzed out low end, stumbling lurching rhythmic plod. It's almost like doom metal pulled apart until its noisy splattery insides spill out. The tempos are glacial, the drums are monstrous and sloooooow, the vocals are a glass gargling roar, the soundfield is constantly shifting, layer upon layer upon layer, distant beeps and swooshing FX, massive swells of digital glitch and low end fuzz, electronics glitch and slither, everything is doused in effects and allowed to get all tangled up with all the other sounds. The thing about Lietterschpich is that somehow they make this all SOUND GOOD. This is beautiful noise, there are hooks, melodies, actual parts, they're sort of like real songs, not just long stretches of noisiness, and even at its most abrasive and harsh, it's totally amazing and listenable. Hard to explain why, it's like Bunkur and the Dead C being remixed by Throbbing Gristle. Some tracks have gentle lilting acoustic guitars, but they're doused in white hot streaks of malfunctioning synths and sputtering electronics, others are straight face melting noise, but have hooks buried underneath all the murk and mire, others are buzzy blurry walls of warm sound, but even those tracks eventually transform into prickly icepick in the ear brutality.
It's definitely an intense and punishing listen, fierce and freaked out, druggy and seriously fucking scary, but within that body of blood and bile, lurks a heart of luminous radiance... Noise record of the year!
MPEG Stream: "Stockfish!!"
MPEG Stream: "Mud And Fun!!"
MPEG Stream: "I Cum Blood In The Fish Tank!"
MPEG Stream: "Cookies Downtown!!!"

LIETTERSCHPICH Quasi (Something On The Road) 3" cd 10.98
All I can think when I hear Lietterschpich, is man, this is exactly what I always wished Whitehouse sounded like. Don't get me wrong. We love Whitehouse, and while they are definitely harsh and brutal and caustic, they just aren't very heavy. The sound is brittle and shrieking, which yeah, is probably the point, but oh how we longed for a crushingly heavy Whitehouse. Local boys Burmese sort of took that role, with their stripped down slow motion grindcore, so slow motion in fact that the music would become a sheet of white noise, through which the various members would wail and shout, howl and testify. But then we heard Lietterschpich, and it was as if someone had been listening to us and granted our wish. This Israeli combo are seriously one of the heaviest, scariest bands we have ever heard. The opening track, recorded live is a vast expanse of ear shredding high end, sheets of acrid feedback, layer after layer of shrieking skree, underneath a gritty fuzzy buzz of tape hiss and instrument crackle, over which a super distorted voice, drenched in FX, spits out a frightening sounding litany of ROOOOAAAR's and GRRRRRGHGHGHGHGHG's. Each time the vocals come in, they are recorded so hot, that it forces the screeching white noise to recoil, as if it were deathly afraid of THIS VOICE. Holy fuck. SO fierce and totally scary. But impossibly, downright listenable too. Probably the finest (but freakiest) moment, is an all but unrecognizable cover of the Pixies' "Monkey Gone To Heaven", an epic, super abstract dirge, with killer live drums, pounding away some super spare glacial rhythm, while weird creaking keening drones shimmer in the background, and the vocals, harsh and so so brutal, channel the spirit of Frank Black, turning him into some sort of hellish demon, gargling blood and broken glass. Throughout the track, thick electronic fuzz and grind, warbles and pulses, creating all kinds of again, impossibly catchy, alien melodies. Definite contender for best cover version EVER. The final track is a brief, mathy instrumental jam, just drums, pounding and shuffling through a creepy cloud of moaning drones and wailing sirens, disembodied vocals, spastic synths and creepy little glitchy bleeps and bloops. Wow. Only three songs, leaves us DYING for more, but at the same time, after just three songs you feel brutalized, beaten and bloodied, we're not sure we could handle any more than that. But we can't wait to try...
MPEG Stream: "You Tried To Poison Me, Brother!"
MPEG Stream: "Monkey Gone To Heaven"

LIFE s/t (Mellotronen) cd 17.98
All right. Now this is what I'm talkin' about. 1971, yeah! Andee's always kidding me that I (Allan) think 1971 is the best year for rock music ever. That's not true of course ('69 and '70 and '72 were no slouches either!), but I do rate it pretty highly. There were SO MANY great records that year, among them Tago Mago, First Utterance, Nursery Cryme, Music To Eat, Satori, Master Of Reality, Funkadelic, Neu! 1, Culpeper's Orchard, Demon And Eleven Children, Love It To Death, In Search Of Space, Stormcock...ohmigod...there's so many. I don't know how I would have survived if I was of a music-buying age in 1971. But I was only two years old. It's sure would have been tough to make a top ten list if I was working at Aquarius back then!! But I'm pretty sure that this Life album (if I even woulda known about it, I wonder if Aquarius ever stocked the original import LP?) would have made that list. Seriously.
Of course, even if folks back then probably didn't appreciate it (foolishly thinking that rock was in some sorta prog-clogged doldrums) they were living in some special times. Especially special if you like the hard/heavy/acid rock like I do.
Ok, more about Life then: they were a skilled Swedish psych-prog trio that spun songs that incorporate (sometimes in the same composition) two quite different but equally excellent extremes -- they do some light n' lush, very pretty pop with piano and full orchestration. But then there's also a lotta rib-rattling dirge-rock with glacial, gargantuan guitars! The combination is epic and elegant, and puts 'em (in my book) almost in the same league as Queen and Deep Purple and Uriah Heep! A quick n' dirty description might be Cream-meets-Queen. And this was before Queen ever released an album. For '71, the heaviness is right up there. Killer songs, stellar vocals, a definite stoner spirit. I can't imagine any of AQ's customers who are real '70s proto-metal freaks not digging this album, even if you don't normally get into the poppier stuff...just 'cause it's SO GOOD. And the lighter fare is integral even to the slabs of heaviosity for which you're really gonna worship this album. Yeah, it's heavy, and even when not, it's damn bombastic. In a way that makes even the tracks that are the most doomy and downer definitely also have a lively, uplifting vibe. I'm telling you, if Life were British and had made more than one album (instead of breaking up 'cause of joining the cast of the Swedish touring production of Hair!), you'd know about 'em already. I mean, they'd be '70s classic rock royalty for sure, at least as famous as, I dunno, Nazareth.
Getting back to the whole 1971 thing: in actuality, this album was originally released in 1970 with Swedish lyrics, then released with English language vocals in '71, and that version is the only one to be reissued on cd. Normally I prefer bands to sing in their native tongue, but this guy is a such a good singer, and avoids any embarrasing accent-issues, and the lyrics are pretty cool ("Once I saw a castle / made by rocks and sand / I used to touch that castle / with my magic hand"). A couple of the bonus tracks are in Swedish, too (where they suddenly sound like Dungen gone arena!).
Now I don't want to freak out and make like this is the best record EVER or anything, but it's really really good and is something that should be much better known that's for sure. So we've ordered a few to try and spread the word...
MPEG Stream: "Many Years Ago"
MPEG Stream: "She Walks Across The Room"
MPEG Stream: "Sailing In The Sunshine"

LIFE AQUATIC, THE (OST) (Hollywood) cd 17.98
None of us were surprised by how good this movie was. After all, we pretty much all love Bottle Rocket, The Royal Tennenbaums, and of course Rushmore. And really none of us should have been surprised by how great this soundtrack is either, since Wes Anderson movies are as much about the music as the movie itself. But somehow the soundtrack was a surprise. For the content as much as the way it was incorporated into the movie. The focus of the soundtrack has to be the gorgeous acoustic numbers by cast member Seu Jorge. There are 5 of them, and they just happen to all be Bowie covers, and are all sung in Portugeuse! I'm not a huge Bowie fan, but the minute we walked out of the theater, I was hoping that the soundtrack would have those tracks, and it did! Warm and languid, melancholy and dreamy, Jorge's tracks are absolutely beautiful, giving those classic rock and roll numbers a totally different nuance. And once you see the movie, those tracks will make even more (non)sense! But that's not all. Classic tracks by the Zombies, Joan Baez, Scott Walker, and the Stooges! The Stooges' "Search And Destroy" has always been one of those songs that makes you want to rumble -- that RIFF! -- and it's put to excellent use in the film! Plus a killer score by Devo's Mark Mothersbaugh. But a discussion of The Life Aquatic would not be complete without a quick digression into "The Cheadle". Not sure how many of you saw Ocean's Eleven, but Don Cheadle played a demolitions expert, with the WORST British accent ever. FOR NO REASON! Responding to every query with "Right guvnuh!" or "Cherrio!" Arghh. So infuriating. WHY WHY WHY? So consequently, pointless and poorly-performed accents are now referred to as "The Cheadle" (others refer to it as "The Kidman"). So in Life Aquatic, Owen Wilson is the one responsible for "The Cheadle", a Southern accent that at best is superfluous, and in execution is thick and impenetrable sometimes, totally non-existent at others. But fear not, that hardly detracts from how great this film is. Owen Wilson is still cute. Bill Murray still rules. The movie is still amazing and funny. And the music is still perfect!
MPEG Stream: "Rebel Rebel"
MPEG Stream: "Rock N' Roll Suicide"
MPEG Stream: "Life On Mars?"

LIFE BEYOND Thousand Vision Mist (Sweden Rock Records) cd 17.98
Despite being on a label called "Sweden Rock Records" these guys aren't Swedish. They're Americans, from the doom capital of the world, Maryland. (You didn't know Maryland was the doom capital of the world? well now you do!) And they're veterans of several of Maryland's legion of doom acts, including former Hellhound label act The Wretched. Obvious influences, as illustrated by their t-shirt choices, include MD doom/stoner legends The Obsessed and Spirit Caravan (along with, it goes without saying, the usual Sabbath/'70s spectrum of heaviness). Heavy and very groovy with smooth rawk vocals that might conjure bad grunge flashbacks for some of you. Wino-worship with hints of The Cult? Actually they worship someone else too -- like Place of Skulls, they happen to be Christians, but we know that's not necessarily a strike against doom-oriented bands. And they do rock like pros, so stoner/doom fanatics in the mood for some Maryland doom groove, waiting on the new Wino (his new band Hidden Hand is coming out on Meteor City this summer) should check 'em out.
MPEG Stream: "Inside The Voice Of Truth"

LIFE ON EARTH Look!! There Is Life On Earth! (Subliminal Sounds) cd 16.98
From the first few notes, we were totally sold. A wild freaked out psychedelic flute solo, why don't all bands start their records like that? Cuz we probably couldn't handle it! But it makes sense here, when you realize that Life On Earth just so happens to be dudes from Swedish psych rockers Dungen! Obviously Dungen fans are gonna want this, the sound is similar, maybe not quite as rocking, a little more laid back and hippified, groovy and space-y and definitely psychedelic, but still so so good.Ê
Fronted by Dungen-eerÊMattias Gustavsson, but with musical back up from other Dungen folks, and such unlikely musical bedfellows as Town & Country and Mia Doi Todd, Life On Earth is Gustavsson's musical tribute to, well, life on earth. The sheer exuberant joy of it, happiness and sunshine and love and brotherhood and wildlife and blue skies and nature and dreams and beauty and most importantly some super kick ass folky proggy psych rock bliss...
Flute is everywhere, and obviously for that we are truly thankful, but it drift and flutters amidst gorgeous and tranquil swirly folky forests of sound. Silky threads of acoustic guitar, swoonsome strings, harmony vocals, lyrics both in Swedish AND English, bongos and simple percussion, some slithery rhythmic grooves, some killer squalls of psych guitar growl, long stretches of hushed dreaminess, with cooing vocals and muted melodies and super tripped out heart-of-the-sun druggy jams, complete with slow motion riffing and reverbed outer space vocals, the whole disc is actually very Beatles-esque (albeit at their most experimental and HIGH) giving Dungen's sound even more of a sixties pop makeover.
Surprisingly (or maybe not so) the record finishes off with nearly 30 minutes of barely there lower case ambience, bits of percussion, keening high end glimmer, all drifting in wide open expanses of mumbled drones and hushed shimmer, a super longform abstract raga, that sounds like something you'd be more likely to find on Celebrate Psi Phenomenon or Pseudo Arcana than on a Dungen related record... Awesome.Ê
MPEG Stream: "Life On Earth"
MPEG Stream: "Sell Your Soul To Me"
MPEG Stream: "City By The Sea"

LIFE ON EARTH Look!! There Is Life On Earth! (Subliminal Sounds) 2lp 28.00
Also available on (import) vinyl!
From the first few notes, we were totally sold. A wild freaked out psychedelic flute solo, why don't all bands start their records like that? Cuz we probably couldn't handle it! But it makes sense here, when you realize that Life On Earth just so happens to be dudes from Swedish psych rockers Dungen! Obviously Dungen fans are gonna want this, the sound is similar, maybe not quite as rocking, a little more laid back and hippified, groovy and space-y and definitely psychedelic, but still so so good.Ê
Fronted by Dungen-eerÊMattias Gustavsson, but with musical back up from other Dungen folks, and such unlikely musical bedfellows as Town & Country and Mia Doi Todd, Life On Earth is Gustavsson's musical tribute to, well, life on earth. The sheer exuberant joy of it, happiness and sunshine and love and brotherhood and wildlife and blue skies and nature and dreams and beauty and most importantly some super kick ass folky proggy psych rock bliss...
Flute is everywhere, and obviously for that we are truly thankful, but it drift and flutters amidst gorgeous and tranquil swirly folky forests of sound. Silky threads of acoustic guitar, swoonsome strings, harmony vocals, lyrics both in Swedish AND English, bongos and simple percussion, some slithery rhythmic grooves, some killer squalls of psych guitar growl, long stretches of hushed dreaminess, with cooing vocals and muted melodies and super tripped out heart-of-the-sun druggy jams, complete with slow motion riffing and reverbed outer space vocals, the whole disc is actually very Beatles-esque (albeit at their most experimental and HIGH) giving Dungen's sound even more of a sixties pop makeover.
Surprisingly (or maybe not so) the record finishes off with nearly 30 minutes of barely there lower case ambience, bits of percussion, keening high end glimmer, all drifting in wide open expanses of mumbled drones and hushed shimmer, a super longform abstract raga, that sounds like something you'd be more likely to find on Celebrate Psi Phenomenon or Pseudo Arcana than on a Dungen related record... Awesome.Ê
MPEG Stream: "Life On Earth"
MPEG Stream: "Sell Your Soul To Me"
MPEG Stream: "City By The Sea"

LIFE ON EARTH (EDWARD WILLIAMS) OST (Trunk) cd 17.98
Another amazing lost gem from Trunk records, this time it's the soundtrack to a legendary (so we're told) nature show on the BBC called Life On Earth, from 30 years ago. Obviously we've never seen the show, but the music is magical. Mysterious and haunting, orchestral chamber music that sounds way too dark and haunting and serene to be designed to accompany shots of frogs and seals and tigers and bears, that is unless they're dying or wandering away sadly into the sunset. The music here, composed by Edward Williams is really quite lovely, but is so surprisingly dark, and melancholy, minor key, sad and sometimes otherworldly, almost almost like it would be better suited for an animated Tim Burton movie, but removed from the show, taken on its own, this music is indeed fantastic, yet still sounds like it must have been taken from some old horror film, or Italian giallo.
Lonely coronets, strummed harpsichords, creepy pizzicato melodies, muted hand drums and marimbas, Bernard Hemann-esque strings, fluttery flutes, ominous swells, booming kettle drums, singing violins, bells and chimes, lots of reverbs, clouds of gentle harp melodies, so gorgeous, but definitely has us wanting to see the show, to understand just how this music worked with shots of animals and plants, it makes nature seem quite ominous and malevolent indeed.
The record finishes off with what sounds like an actual clip from the show, whirring drones, distant drums, what sounds like reverbed Theremins, and a deep British voiceover (David Attenborough in fact!) discussing the disappearance of man. Wow.
Cool liner notes too, and photos, including the story of how Johnny Trunk tracked down the composer, and had to also track down Sir Attenborough himself.
Totally recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Life On Earth Begins"
MPEG Stream: "First Fossils"
MPEG Stream: "Comb Jellies"
MPEG Stream: "Coral Larvae"

LIFE ON EARTH (EDWARD WILLIAMS) OST (Trunk) lp 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Another amazing lost gem from Trunk records, this time it's the soundtrack to a legendary (so we're told) nature show on the BBC called Life On Earth, from 30 years ago. Obviously we've never seen the show, but the music is magical. Mysterious and haunting, orchestral chamber music that sounds way too dark and haunting and serene to be designed to accompany shots of frogs and seals and tigers and bears, that is unless they're dying or wandering away sadly into the sunset. The music here, composed by Edward Williams is really quite lovely, but is so surprisingly dark, and melancholy, minor key, sad and sometimes otherworldly, almost almost like it would be better suited for an animated Tim Burton movie, but removed from the show, taken on its own, this music is indeed fantastic, yet still sounds like it must have been taken from some old horror film, or Italian giallo.
Lonely coronets, strummed harpsichords, creepy pizzicato melodies, muted hand drums and marimbas, Bernard Hemann-esque strings, fluttery flutes, ominous swells, booming kettle drums, singing violins, bells and chimes, lots of reverbs, clouds of gentle harp melodies, so gorgeous, but definitely has us wanting to see the show, to understand just how this music worked with shots of animals and plants, it makes nature seem quite ominous and malevolent indeed.
The record finishes off with what sounds like an actual clip from the show, whirring drones, distant drums, what sounds like reverbed Theremins, and a deep British voiceover (David Attenborough in fact!) discussing the disappearance of man. Wow.
Cool liner notes too, and photos, including the story of how Johnny Trunk tracked down the composer, and had to also track down Sir Attenborough himself.
Totally recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Life On Earth Begins"
MPEG Stream: "First Fossils"
MPEG Stream: "Comb Jellies"
MPEG Stream: "Coral Larvae"

LIFE ON EARTH, THE Your Karma Is Coming (self-released) cd 9.98

LIFE WITHOUT BUILDINGS Any Other City (DC/Baltimore) cd 16.98
Domestic reissue of the debut from the unusual Scottish quartet. This edition comes in a jewel case and features the bonus cut "Daylighting". Here's what we said in March 2001 about "Any Other City":
Life Without Buildings is the next big thing according to the often overzealous and easily bought UK music press, but this time, they just might be right. Definitely too weird to -actually- be the next big thing, Life Without Buildings does offer some new and appealing sounds. They have an indie-rock jangle somewhere between Sleater Kinney's urgency and The Smith's precious perfection; but the lyrics are a different bag all together. Vocalist Sue Tompkins never stops her ongoing monologue (word has it that live, she sits on a stool reading from her notebook) with a thick Northern accent and a semi-drunken slur, sounding much like the female counterpart to that guy from Prolapse. Fans of the Raincoats will love this.
RealAudio clip: "Juno"
RealAudio clip: "PS Exclusive"

LIFEGUARDS Mist King Urth (Fading Captain Series) cd 15.98
Aha! Yet another installment in Robert Pollard's Fading Captain series. The mysteriously titled Mist King Urth is credited to the equally mysterious group known as Lifeguards. And just who do you think they might be? But of course, it's another Pollard collaborative effort. This time he's hooked back up with fellow GBVer Doug Gillard. Pollard sang and wrote the tunes while Gillard played the all instruments, and it's no surprise that the results are quite appealing. Ah yes, a rose by any other name.... Raw electric guitars crunch about while Pollard sings in a particularly strange, affected manner. Very fired up and rocked out.
MPEG Stream: "Starts At The River"
MPEG Stream: "Shorter Virgins"

LIFELOVER Dekadens (Osmose) cd ep 10.98
Latest from Swedish blackened doom pop weirdos Lifelover, which we have been trying to get for a while, and it's a doozy, melding the twisted demented depressive black metal strangeness of their early records, with the more streamlined, lush heaviness of their most recent recordings, resulting in what might be their most full realized release yet.
Featuring members of Ondskapt, Hypothermia, Dimhymn and IXXI, one could be forgiven for expecting something much more grim and black, hateful and harrowing, but instead, the band have been moving more toward a sound much more akin to groups like Katatonia, epic, lush, depressive doom pop, the guitars and drums massive, the melodies melancholy and mournful, but with the unhinged maniacal vocals that defined the first few records. Live videos display the group's incredible (and incredibly bloody) stage presence, with the vocalist, wearing a white long sleeve dress shirt, and doing some strange herky jerky dances, but within a few songs, things get decidedly darker, that white shirt soaked through with blood, the band locked into a frenzied fierce assault, but STILL, the music manages to be lush and sprawling and epic and weirdly impossibly poppy. Not sure why it works, or even how, but Lifelover are not only master showmen, but masters of crafting off kilter blackened pop. And Dekadens is most definitely testament to that. Not nearly as weird or experimental as past records, the first four tracks are a practically flawless explosion of the sound these guys have seemed to master, the production loud and lush, the riffing incredible, the drums not blasting, but pounding, the vocals a shrieking caterwaul, all wound into some incredible heavy pop music, still with hints of blackness, some double kick drumming, chugging guitars, those vocals, but however much of that there is, this still is ultimately pop music.
The second half of the record, things get a bit weirder; "Androider" almost sounds like some sort of alien modern rock, if it weren't for those unhinged vocals, it's not hard to imagine a song like this ending up on MTV, with some woozy clean guitar breaks, a soaring chorus, and some clean crooning vox, eventually slipping into a gorgeous minor key lament. "Visomdsord" is all clean guitar and skeletal drumming, soaring melancholy melodies, weirdly processed spoken vocals, gloomy Joy Divisiony basslines, and a second half that gets more and more dreamy and abstract. And then finally "Destination: Ingenstans" has possibly the poppiest main riff of the bunch, total sugary sweet, still distorted and crunchy, but majestic and major key, before a brief hushed drifty interlude, and then a burst of mathy proggy blackened heaviness, maybe the heaviest thing on the record, before the song chills out again, returning to something much more meditative, clean guitars, jangly and shimmery, the only vestige of blackened weirdness, a still tortured hellish howl, creating something at once dreamlike and melodic, haunting and harrowing.
So goddamn good. Lifelover are probably one of the most original 'black metal' bands around. And one of our favorites, and it's hard for us to imagine anyone listening to Dekadens not agreeing wholeheartedly...
MPEG Stream: "Luguber Framtid"
MPEG Stream: "Myspys"
MPEG Stream: "Androider"
MPEG Stream: "Destination: Ingenstans"

LIFELOVER Erotik (Total Holocaust) cd 14.98
We first discovered the band Lifelover a year or two back and were kind of knocked for a loop. Their first record (which we have yet to list) was on the same label as Bone Awl, Urfaust, Planet Aids, Vrolok, Emit, Gauhaert, so we were sort of expecting some bizarre black metal, and while it was indeed sort of black metal, it was most definitely bizarre. Album art featuring multiple photos of a naked young Scandinavian woman, covered in blood and laying in the grass in the middle of a bright summer day, the music inside was just as unexpected. A sort of dark metallic pop. A buzzing blasting mournful melancholy sound that reminded us mostly of Katatonia, albeit a bit more damaged and demented.
The new record, Erotik, is even stranger, and sounds even MORE like some strange variation of Katatonia. Again the root of the sound is a dark loping minor key melancholia, buzzing guitars, not so much black as grey, monotone vocals way down in the mix, simple drumming, bits of extra percussion, but most notably, lots of piano, a sparse minor key plinking spread across most of the songs, or strange chordal clusters, WAY up in the mix surfacing within driving riffs or amidst droning spacious shimmer. It's definitely that more-metal Cure sound, also a bit like Beyond Dawn, that sort of gloomy eighties vibe, gothy and depressive, moody and dark and spacious, with super catchy and epic melodies. But, and this is a very big BUT, Lifelover are SOOOOOO much more fucked up.
Some songs begin as droning doleful midtempo rockers, but then the vocals begin to come unhinged, more manic, more on-the-verge, soon the singing has transformed into hysterical shrieks and maniacal howls. Sometimes the band will drop out and all there will be left are swoonsome strings, with some strange muttering over the top, sometimes the muttering is backwards. Once in a while there is straight up indie rock jangly guitar, often paired with double kick drums??! And piano too. And did we mention harmonica? Strange samples too, people talking, and children... weird synths, muted almost techno-like rhythms, reverb drenched pianos drifting in space. And then there are handclaps. Yep, handclaps, in songs that are so dour and dark, handclaps are the last thing you expect. But they work. In some really strange way, they sound perfect. Every song is sort of like that, 'normal' on the surface, but always slightly twisted. So yeah, simple moody midtempo blackened pop, but with piano, and demented vocals and handclaps... and lots of um... backwards stuff... especially...
In the 11 minute final track, the amazing "Nitlott", which begins with almost cheerful sounding piano, simple soaring strings, an almost straight up ballad, with hushed vocals, spoken in Swedish, that get more agitated but never quite flip out like elsewhere. This goes on for nearly 5 minutes before the metal kicks in, but it's not any old metal, it's backwards, the guitars being sucked backwards with that distinct sssshhhhhwwwooo before each note, the reversed decay now transformed into the note's attack. A chugging riff turned into a smeared metal blur, the drums a weird backwards sssffft sssffft sssffft, with occasional stretches where the riff is flipped forward briefly, before the band launches back into its strange backwards march. The whole thing ending with a delicate minor key guitar melody hovering and then dreamily drifting off. So awesome. And so weird. Maybe our new favorite black metal record. Then again, this is barely even a black metal record... maybe it would be a bit more accurate to call Erotik our new favorite black-depressive-backwards-piano-jangle-bliss-drone-techno-pop-experi-metal record... Absolutely!
MPEG Stream: "Nitlott"
MPEG Stream: "Sweet Illness Of Mine"
MPEG Stream: "Vallkommen Till Pulvercity"

LIFELOVER Konkurs (Avantgarde Music) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
For a band that counts among its lineup members of suicidal black metallers Hypothermia, satanic black blasters Ondskapt, weirdo blackened doomsters Dimhymn, and buzzing black and rollers IXXI, Lifelover still manage to confound, somehow creating music at once the sum of all those parts, and at the same time a sound completely cracked, totally damaged, and gleefully bizarre, to the point of seemingly alienating all but the most broadminded of listeners. But if you're like us, and were crazy obsessed with Lifelover's last two discs, Pulver and Erotik, both confusional mixes of downtuned depressive black buzz, haunting epic minor key sadcore, and a plenty of sonic whatthefuck, then Konkurs should hit the spot big time. But even if you've yet to hear Lifelover before now, you still might fight yourself ensorcelled, as have many of the less metal minded folks around here. Lifelover occupy some strange space, not quite pop, not quite black metal. The guitars are distorted, but they don't quite buzz, the melodies are grim and depressive, but more gloomy and melancholic than hateful and harsh. Fans of groups like Alcest, Amesoeurs and especially Katatonia, at least those who aren't averse to some serious weirdness, could very well discover a whole new, darker and more demented side to their musical taste, courtesy of these freaked out Swedes.
Konkurs manages to expand on the sonic universe explored over the course of the two prior discs, while taking the sound even further, better production, more diverse and expansive instrumentation, better songs, and while bizarre, not nearly as schizophrenic, with a much better flow, like a proper album, as opposed to a collection of strange songs, but it's all still laced with plenty of gorgeously gloomy melodies, awesome metallic crunch, all sorts of tortured maniacal vocals, the tracks are peppered with skittery drum machines, bizarre feedbacked melodies, plaintive piano, swoonsome crooned vocals, all wrapped around gloriously miserable and epic minor key dirges, and super catchy twisted blackened doom pop.
From the very first moment, a strange echo drenched metallic clang, the band swoops in cloaked in a warm haze of black buzz, draped over a time keeping trash can lid cymbal, the vocals anguished and tortured, the guitars woven into soaring majestic melodies, while a piano plinks out its own sad melody right alongside. It really does sound like some Katatonia B-side, but filtered through some sort of cracked black lens. And from there, the record swoons and swirls, the tracks unfurling woozily, the second track has a killer main hook, a murky piano / fuzzy guitar harmony, blurred and smeared beneath simple motorik drumming, while the track after that borrows a little groove from Norwegian Nirvana worshipping black metallers Khold, but add a whole 'nother dimension of soft focus miserablism. Every track, no matter how normal, or how fucked up, is impossibly catchy, hooks galore, but also rife with elements that in any other band would stick out like a blackened and bloodied sore thumb. Whether it's some grinding muted chunk chunk chunk guitar, a recording of some polka-like accordion music, or a shimmery stretch of detuned piano, or perhaps some ominous spoken word, a bit of folky guitar strum, recordings of waves lapping on the shore, Sunn 0)))-like slow motion black guitar buzz, or lots of piano, almost always wreathed in tons of effects making it ethereal and shimmery, those elements seem to melt into the sounds around them, and after a few listens it's almost impossible to imagine the songs without them.
Not really heavy, not really all that black, but then that doesn't seem to be at all the point when it comes to Lifelover. Instead, the sounds here are a mysterious strain of outsider pop music, infused with elements of black metal and doom and slowcore and all sorts of other things, but those remain just elements, and become harder and harder to discern within the swirling jangly grinding blasting buzzing droney drifty twisted catchy and creepy whole that is Konkurs. Brilliant. And baffling. And beautiful. And absolutely recommended.
MPEG Stream: "Shallow"
MPEG Stream: "Mental Central Dialog"
MPEG Stream: "Brand"
MPEG Stream: "Spiken I Kistan"

LIFELOVER Pulver (Goatowarex) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Finally, the debut from these Swedish twisted doom pop black metal freeks is available once again. We listed record number two, Erotik, a while back, and like us, everybody freaked out, digging these guys' strangely off kilter black melancholia, so much that we had trouble keeping it in stock. Like a damaged, blackened Katatonia, Lifelover are creating some of the most original and not entirely black, black metal we've heard in ages.Ê
On the same label that brought us discs fromÊBone Awl, Urfaust, Planet Aids, Vrolok, Emit, Gauhaert, Lifelover's sound couldn't have been further from what we were expecting. Our first clue should have been the cover art. A series of photos of a nude blonde woman, covered in blood, reclining in lush grass and blossoming wildflowers. Inside, old woodcuts, photos of boats, apartment buildings, and then the creepy band photos, featuring all four members, the strangely named (), B, LR and 1853.
But what exactly does it sound like? Well, Katatonia is definitely a good starting point, super moody and melancholic, soaring and dramatic, guitars that do almost everything else but buzz, jangle, strum, shimmer, keen, roar, and ok, maybe they buzz a bit, but they tend to be much more melodic than textural, although the sounds is definitely lush and layered. The arrangements are simple, but never straight forward, there is piano all over the place, the vocals are wild and unkempt, howling and hysterical,Ê sometimes haunting and spoken, drenched in reverb, the drums go from simple time keeping to strange stumble to thunderous pound usually during the same song, and amidst and within the music are all manner of samples and found sounds, Swedish folk songs, panicked crowds, weird voices, record crackle, amp buzz, and lots of other indescribably sonic events.Ê
It's easy to hear some Factory records here, some Joy Division for sure, definitely a bit of the Fall, Gang Of Four. Minus the metallic buzz and the unhinged vocals, these guys might even be entering Interpol / Editors territory. A sort of modern moody new wave. Downcast and introspective, but with Lifelover, it all ends up completely twisted and damaged and a bit buzzy. In a very very good way. There's been much discussion here about which Lifelover record is better, Pulver or Erotik, and the split is pretty even, but no matter which side anyone falls on, they definitely agree that BOTH are absolutely essential.
MPEG Stream: "Nackskott"
MPEG Stream: "M/S Salmonella"
MPEG Stream: "Mitt Oppna Oga"
MPEG Stream: "Stockholm"

LIFELOVER Sjukdom (Prophecy Productions) cd 16.98
It's strange watching videos of Lifelover performing live. With the sound turned down, you would probably think you were watching the sickest, noisiest, grimmest band ever, the frontman in a white shirt, seemingly in some sort of trance at the front of the stage, cutting himself up until he's a sopping bloody mess, covered in scars, his mouth wide open, seemingly howling demonically, but as most of you already know, the sound of Lifelover is far removed from grim black buzz, or dirgey blackened sludge, instead, they traffic is a sort of doom pop, surprisingly melodic, still metallic, but often with piano, and synths, juxtaposing wild hysterical vox, with music that is frankly not that far removed from the mainstream. But that's the magic of Lifelover, they are a seriously twisted entity, sonic and otherwise, their records sprawling confusional free for all's that shift tone and timbre constantly, brooding and dark one minute, wild and heavy the next, the vocals over the top and super dramatic. A sound that's dark and depressive, but totally melodic and catchy. We've loved pretty much every record so far, and their records get played all the time in the shop, even by the non metalheads, especially by the non metalheads. That's not to say this is not metal, it most definitely is, just its own unique strain.
On first listen, we were tempted to proclaim Sjukdom the heaviest Lifelover yet, and while repeated listens do reveal the record's hidden melodic secrets, we definitely think the ratio of distorted heaviness to plaintive melancholy doom pop is definitely above average here.
The opener sets the tone, with some seriously chuggy metallic riffage, but laced over some mournful minor key piano, the vocals slipping from anguished shriek to more guttural howl, the song surprisingly catchy, the drums weirdly processed so they almost sound programmed, the track slipping into an almost punk rock blast before slipping right back into the more metallic midtempo crunch.
It's definitely the best sounding Lifelover yet, in terms of production, the guitars are massive, thick, super distorted, the vocals manage to be audible, bizarre, but not overbearing, the drums might be the only weak spot, triggered sounding, but as the record grows on you, the drums start to sound, right, somehow. And the songs, super catchy, melding the sort of Katatonia style depressive metallic melancholia, with depressive black metal ambience, the piano, which sort of defines their sound, as much as the guitars certainly, and the vocals, which are so emotional, expressive, tortured, bizarre, grunting to shrieking, to whispering to mewling.
And beyond the Lifelover 'sound', these guys do whip up some fantastic audio weirdness, peppering the record with strange samples, swirling snippets of other songs, haunting interludes, mysterious stretches of ambience, even whole songs that totally stand out, like "Bitterljuv Kakofoni", with its hushed backwards guitars, tortured growled vox, all over a weird super minimal, ultra distorted rhythm, laced with minimal piano, and haunting guitar twang, creepy and beautiful. There's also the strummy blissy "Utdrag", that sounds like Lifelover's take on jangle pop, sounding a bit like the singer's other outfit Hypothermia, minus the piano.
If you liked the other Lifelovers, you're gonna dig this one too, not their weirdest, but definitely their catchiest, and best produced, and it's a total grower. At first we were convinced it could never live up to Erotik or Pulver, but now we find ourselves listening to it like crazy, and digging it as much as those other ones if not more.
MPEG Stream: "Svart Galla"
MPEG Stream: "Led By Misfortune"
MPEG Stream: "Expandera"
MPEG Stream: "Karma"

LIGETI, GYORGY Continuum / Zehn Stucke Fur Blaserquintett / Articulation / Glissandi / Etuden Fur Orgel / Volumina (Wergo) cd 18.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

LIGETI, GYORGY Kammerkonzert / Ramifications / Lux Aeterna / Atmospheres (Wergo) cd 18.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

LIGHT A Million Dead Beneath The Ice (self-released) cd-r 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
From its humble beginnings as a genre, black metal has changed dramatically, transformed into something style and sound based rather than belief based. And where black metal was once strictly the province of the grim and kvlt, and yes, the actual metalheads, it's now gained a certain cache, a definite hip factor, where any band, metal or not, is likely to feature one member with his or her own solo black metal project. We're not complaining, not in the least, it's these fresh injections into black metal's sonic gene pool that keep it interesting, that produce more and more strange and wonderful variations, a great many perpetrated by folks new to metal completely, who were lured to the darkside by black metal specifically, its mystery and unique sound, the sonic possibilities offered by its murky symphony of buzz and blast, rumble and shriek, sounds easily twisted into all manner of shapes.
We got this particular cd-r in the mail a few weeks ago, and as we've mentioned before we do get quite a few. Our first impression was that it would most likely be some sort of minimal drone record, very stark white packaging, hand made, the band is called Light, with song titles like "When The Green Midwestern Sky Comes Crashing Down", and "When The Flood Waters Come Rushing In", the packaging unfolds to reveal nothing but the song titles, rendered in a flowery script, but on the disc, there was what appears to be a smear of actual blood (which we later discovered was in fact menstrual blood!). The first clue as to what sort of mysterious darkness lurked inside...
Once we threw it on, we knew this was something else entirely, there is plenty of drone indeed, but the drone is only one element of Light's mysterious lugubrious buzz drenched blackened crawl. Almost like a more lo-fi Skepticism, Light trudge along at tarpit tempos, the guitars not so much riffing as unfurling thick swirls of soft fuzz, the vocals howled and wailed, but way off in the distance, the drums strangely un-drumlike, more like pots and pans, a clattery, skeletal percussion, the whole thing held together by the warm dramatic keyboards, that sound like the Haunted Mansion soundtrack played at 16rpm, all smeared and blurred together into something only barely black metal, only barely doom, a thick lurching slow motion black doomdrone, evocative and cinematic, at once epic and sprawling, lo-fi and ultra personal. Creepy and haunting, but strangely melodic and beautiful. Think Trollmann, Abruptum, Celestiial, Catacombs, Monument of Urns and again Skepticism, but filtered through the cracked lo-fi filter of underground cd-r dronemusic. If one was unfamiliar with black metal, one might be reminded of Lustmord, or some other sort of deathambient, but with the confusional addition of actual riffs, and those hellish vox, and the strange primitive percussion, the end result a sort of metallicized slowcore, or a washed out ultradoom, or a blurred bleary black metal, however you describe it, Light have crafted some truly original, gorgeously bleak, warm and almost dreamy, slow motion buzzing black beauty.
Hand folded, hand assembled, stark white sleeves, with a Japanese style obi, and an extra inner sleeve, crazy limited to maybe 50 copies or so.
MPEG Stream: "When The Green Midwestern Sky Comes Crashing Down"
MPEG Stream: "When The Flood Waters Come Rushing In"

LIGHT Life Is Meaningless & Goes On Forever (self-released) cd-r 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Earlier this year, we reviewed a super limited avant outsider blackened doom record called A Million Dead Beneath The Ice, by a duo called Light. Which was anything but light, in fact, it was one of the darkest and most harrowing discs we'd heard in a long time, a slow motion drone drenched funereal crawl, with a lush almost orchestrated feel that definitely reminded us of Skepticism. And if anything, record number two, the awesomely titled Life Is Meaningless & Goes On Forever is even more! More black, more doomy, more droney, more beautiful, more harsh and more bizarre.
One long hour long track, which begins with a slowly cycling piano figure, draped over a wash of reverbed tones, distant rumbles, the sound gorgeous, slightly atonal, ominous and sinister, and then there are the vocals, a nearly impossible to describe high pitched shriek, that almost sounds like someone screaming as they breathe in, a twisted strangled howl, totally at odds with the music underneath, reminding us a bit of Tomb Of..., who also paired up piano and black metal vokills, but Light seems borne more of a free noise aesthetic. Minus the vocals, the sound on Life Is Meaningless, is a sort of abstract slowcore crawl, a little post rocky, a little doomy, a bit of black ambient drift, but the vocals are just SOOOO creepy, it definitely pushes it into a whole other realm. And suddenly what could have been something darkly pretty, becomes something fucked up and grimly gorgeous.
Like the first release (which is long out of print so don't ask), the packaging is a hand folded, hand assembled, plain grey origami style sleeve, with a Japanese style obi, and an extra inner sleeve, as well as a hand written insert, and again crazy limited to less than 50 COPIES!!
MPEG Stream: "Life Is Meaningless & Goes On Forever (excerpt 1)"
MPEG Stream: "Life Is Meaningless & Goes On Forever (excerpt 2)"

LIGHT s/t (Crucial Blaze) 3xcd-r 17.98
Three out of print cd-r's from this outsider blackened doom duo, A Million Dead Beneath The Ice, Life Is Meaningless & Goes On Forever and Worse Than Anyone Would Have Expected, all available again, now repackaged and offered together as a single triple cd-r boxset, with all new art, additional inserts, and two buttons, released on Crucial Blast sublabel Crucial Blaze. Here's what we had to say about each of the records when we first reviewed them individually:
A Million Dead Beneath The Ice:
From its humble beginnings as a genre, black metal has changed dramatically, transformed into something style and sound based rather than belief based. And where black metal was once strictly the province of the grim and kvlt, and yes, the actual metalheads, it'sÊnow gained a certain cache, a definite hip factor, where any band, metal or not, is likely to feature one member with his or her own solo black metal project. We're not complaining, not in the least, it's these fresh injections into black metal's sonic gene pool thatÊkeep it interesting, that produce more and more strange and wonderful variations, a great many perpetrated by folks new to metal completely, who were lured to the darkside by black metal specifically, its mystery and unique sound, the sonic possibilities offered byÊits murky symphony of buzz and blast, rumble and shriek, sounds easily twisted into all manner of shapes.Ê
We got this particular cd-r in the mail a few weeks ago, and as we've mentioned before we do get quite a few. Our first impression was that it would most likely be some sort of minimal drone record, very stark white packaging, hand made, the band is called Light,Êwith song titles like "When The Green Midwestern Sky Comes Crashing Down", and "When The Flood Waters Come Rushing In", the packaging unfolds to reveal nothing but the song titles, rendered in a flowery script, but on the disc, there was what appears to be aÊsmear of actual blood (which we later discovered was in fact menstrual blood!). The first clue as to what sort of mysterious darkness lurked inside...Ê
Once we threw it on, we knew this was something else entirely, there is plenty of drone indeed, but the drone is only one element of Light's mysterious lugubrious buzz drenched blackened crawl. Almost like a more lo-fi Skepticism, Light trudge along at tarpitÊtempos, the guitars not so much riffing as unfurling thick swirls of soft fuzz, the vocals howled and wailed, but way off in the distance, the drums strangely un-drumlike, more like pots and pans, a clattery, skeletal percussion, the whole thing held together by theÊwarm dramatic keyboards, that sound like the Haunted Mansion soundtrack played at 16rpm, all smeared and blurred together into something only barely black metal, only barely doom, a thick lurching slow motion black doomdrone, evocative and cinematic, at onceÊepic and sprawling, lo-fi and ultra personal. Creepy and haunting, but strangely melodic and beautiful. Think Trollmann, Abruptum, Celestiial, Catacombs, Monument of Urns and again Skepticism, but filtered through the cracked lo-fi filter of underground cd-rÊdronemusic. If one was unfamiliar with black metal, one might be reminded of Lustmord, or some other sort of deathambient, but with the confusional addition of actual riffs, and those hellish vox, and the strange primitive percussion, the end result a sort ofÊmetallicized slowcore, or a washed out ultradoom, or a blurred bleary black metal, however you describe it, Light have crafted some truly original, gorgeously bleak, warm and almost dreamy, slow motion buzzing black beauty.
Life Is Meaningless & Goes On Forever:
Earlier this year, we reviewed a super limited avant outsider blackened doom record called A Million Dead Beneath The Ice, by a duo called Light. Which was anything but light, in fact, it was one of the darkest and most harrowing discs we'd heard in a long time, aÊslow motion drone drenched funereal crawl, with a lush almost orchestrated feel that definitely reminded us of Skepticism. And if anything, record number two, the awesomely titled Life Is Meaningless & Goes On Forever is even more! More black, more doomy, moreÊdroney, more beautiful, more harsh and more bizarre.Ê
One hour long track, which begins with a slowly cycling piano figure, draped over a wash of reverbed tones, distant rumbles, the sound gorgeous, slightly atonal, ominous and sinister, and then there are the vocals, a nearly impossible to describe high pitchedÊshriek, that almost sounds like someone screaming as they breathe in, a twisted strangled howl, totally at odds with the music underneath, reminding us a bit of Tomb Of..., who also paired up piano and black metal vokills, but Light seems borne more of a free noiseÊaesthetic. Minus the vocals, the sound on Life Is Meaningless, is a sort of abstract slowcore crawl, a little post rocky, a little doomy, a bit of black ambient drift, but the vocals are just SOOOO creepy, it definitely pushes it into a whole other realm. And suddenly whatÊcould have been something darkly pretty, becomes something fucked up and grimly gorgeous.Ê
Worse Than Anyone Would Have Expected:
Third and final release from this depressive black doom duo, and it's a fitting epitaph to a short but brilliant streak. Three super limited cd-r's, less than 200 all told, each one overflowing with blackened misery and gorgeous harrowing sonic blackness, the first, titledÊA Million Dead Beneath The Ice, gave way to the second, titled Life Is Meaningless & Goes On Forever, which brings us to Worse Than Anyone Would Have Expected, which should give you a decent impression of the overall vibe and tone of Light's distinctly UN-lightÊsound.Ê
Three looooooong tracks, thick caustic layers of buzzing low end drone, sparsely strummed acoustic guitar, shrieked vocals way down in the mix, funereal, glacial, miserable, not even plodding as there seems to be no drums, or if they are there, they're practicallyÊinaudible. The melodies are lilting and melancholic, there's some piano, the rumbling buzzing backdrop seems to coalesce into some sort of melody, the whole thing lurching in slow motion, grim, and dense, and miserably and mournfully lovely. Totally hypnotic .
The second track offers up more of the same, another lovely black expanse of pointillist piano, harrowing screams, and slow swells of black buzz, before finally segueing into the epic closing track, a formula similar to the first two, but somehow even slower, moreÊabject, more ambient, so slow and spaced out and minimal, that it nearly ceases being metal or doom and is transformed into some sort of black ambient slowcore, a haunting doomic creep, that to these ears is as pretty as it is grim and harsh.Ê
This reissue is also limited, only 200 copies, each one hand numbered!
MPEG Stream: "When The Green Midwestern Sky Comes Crashing Down"
MPEG Stream: "When The Flood Waters Come Rushing In"
MPEG Stream: "Life Is Meaningless & Goes On Forever (excerpt 1)"
MPEG Stream: "Life Is Meaningless & Goes On Forever (excerpt 2)"
MPEG Stream: "The City"
MPEG Stream: "Again"

LIGHT Worse Than Anyone Would Have Expected (self-released) cd-r 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Third and final release from this depressive black doom duo, and it's a fitting epitaph to a short but brilliant streak. Three super limited cd-r's, less than 200 all told, each one overflowing with blackened misery and gorgeous harrowing sonic blackness, the first, titled A Million Dead Beneath The Ice, gave way to the second, titled Life Is Meaningless & Goes On Forever, which brings us to Worse Than Anyone Would Have Expected, which should give you a decent impression of the overall vibe and tone of Light's distinctly UN-light sound.
Three looooooong tracks, thick caustic layers of buzzing low end drone, sparsely strummed acoustic guitar, shrieked vocals way down in the mix, funereal, glacial, miserable, not even plodding as there seems to be no drums, or if they are there, they're practically inaudible. The melodies are lilting and melancholic, there's some piano, the rumbling buzzing backdrop seems to coalesce into some sort of melody, the whole thing lurching in slow motion, grim, and dense, and miserably and mournfully lovely. Totally hypnotic .
The second track offers up more of the same, another lovely black expanse of pointillist piano, harrowing screams, and slow swells of black buzz, before finally segueing into the epic closing track, a formula similar to the first two, but somehow even slower, more abject, more ambient, so slow and spaced out and minimal, that it nearly ceases being metal or doom and is transformed into some sort of black ambient slowcore, a haunting doomic creep, that to these ears is as pretty as it is grim and harsh.
LIMITED TO ONLY 50 COPIES. Gorgeous packaging, black on black, black disc, elaborately folded sleeve with a black on black printed obi, super fancy, and most likely gone before you know it...
MPEG Stream: "The City"
MPEG Stream: "Again"

LIGHT BRIGHT HIGHWAY Moon Glory And The Seventh Sun (Two Ohm Hop) lp 10.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
These here Texas drone rockers show that they have much in common with others in their homeland (Stars of the Lid, Ultrasound, Charalambides, 26, etc.) on this beautiful lp (white vinyl, if you must know). Each side consists of slow, hazy pieces that devolve from Mogwai-like explosive melodies into deep sleepy drones. Quite exceptional.

LIGHT OF SHIPWRECK From The Idle Cylinders (Crucial Bliss) cd-r 8.98
Finally, a new batch of releases from the always kick ass Crucial Bliss label, the limited cd-r experimental ambient sublabel of the mighty Crucial Blast. This first one comes from Light Of Shipwreck, a one man power ambient drone outfit that is the work of Ben Fleury-Steiner who runs the also quite awesome Gears Of Sand label (Aidan Baker, Encomiast, Seconds In Formeldahyde) and who for From The Idle Cylinders has woven guitars, percussion and programming into a darkly organic soundworld. The label compares the sound here to some swirly mix of Steve Reich, Brian Eno, Can, and Earth, which is definitely not that far off the mark, but we also hear some This Heat, some Wolf Eyes and lots of Necks in these extended shimmery and serpentine sprawls.
Haunting super rhythmic industrial soundscapes laced with a propulsive locomotive shuffle of programmed percussion, keening high end and hissing whirs of smeared almost jazziness, looped and cyclical, some sort of disembodied krautrock/spacerock like a more mechanical Necks jamming in a thick cloud of Birchville Cat Motel fug. A groaning creaking percussive framework beneath a sky full of shimmering black clouds.
All three tracks begin all abstract and drifty, the first "I Rode And Am Riding On An Ocean Of Violent Lights", quickly explodes into a fog of jagged edges and swirling squalls of chaotic percussion and overlapping drones, while the second,Ê"I Watched And Am Watching A Cold Dead Sun Rise Then Explode" coalesces into a serious chunk of glorious Ur-kraut, a simple stripped down rhythm spread out over a massive expanse of low end whir and phantom drone drift, gorgeous and mesmerizing, with a dark dreamy melody, both ominous and lovely, think a super mellow druggy Circle, or a slightly more noise rock Necks...
The final track begins with subtle Eastern sounding percussion, before giving way to some Fear Falls Burning massive glacial guitar drone, eventually splintering into glimmering harmonics, the rest of the twenty minute track, a tangle of the two, shuffling skittering rhythms wrapped around slow burning solar flare guitar. So good.
As with all Crucial Bliss releases, the packaging is gorgeous, a dvd sized fold over thick cardstock sleeve, full color inside and out, the cd attached to a plastic hub affixed to the sleeve... and LIMITED TO ONLY 200 COPIES!!
MPEG Stream: "I Rode And Am Riding On An Ocean Of Violent Lights"
MPEG Stream: "I Watched And Am Watching A Cold Dead Sun Rise Then Explode"

LIGHT OF SHIPWRECK In The Empty Wreckage Of A Dream (Gears Of Sand) cd-r 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Light Of Shipwreck, while a long time favorite around here, has always been a tough outfit to describe. In the past we've compared the sound of LoS to Wolf Eyes, This Heat and the Necks, but that only scratches the surface. There was all sorts of blurred digital shimmer, dubby beats, lurching almost metallic heaviness, it really was a wild assemblage of sounds, but they were somehow woven into something listenable, heck, more than listenable, something pretty fucked up and far out.
So finally, another full length, and as we might have expected, while some of those references still apply, In The Empty Wreckage Of A Dream is a whole 'nother beast.
Two loooong songs, the first clocking in at nearly half an hour, and beginning with a strange cacophony of industrial clatter, warm low end pulsations, a sort of muted noisescape, that manages to be heavy, but strangely soothing, until the drums come in, and then it's just chaos, programmed beats careen all over the place, skittering and pulsing beneath a suddenly active swirling squall of moaning feedback, of grinding metallic crunch, a dark billowing cloud shot through with bits of melody, chunks of throbbing bass, but for the most part the sounds is an ever shifting cloud of hiss and buzz and blur surrounding a looped skeletal beat. Eventually all of the skitter and pound, the skree and crunch slough off, leaving a gorgeous heaving river of low end drones and layered buzz, thick and dense and blackened, slowly drifting like some sonic black tar, until the sound again shifts, more of the low end falling away, leaving a gleaming and glistening shimmer, all soft edged high end that is swallowed up by the darkness almost as quickly as it emerged. The track buzzes and crawls, a moaning drone behemoth, before it finally dissipates leaving nothing but a spectral whisper.
The second track, slightly shorter at 21 minutes, is another multi part epic. This one a gloomy gothic sprawl, again, a sky full of dark clouds, wrapped around more off kilter programmed skitter. The tones thick and heavy, moaning and groaning, like the sound of hellish beasts letting out their final wails of anguish, or some blackened city crumbling to dust, with nothing but the drums to play it out. Weirdly tribal and raw, it could almost be some super obscure eighties goth rock combo, jamming out, drugged out of their gourds, unfurling some impossibly otherworldly murk jam, but it too gives way to something more ethereal and ephemeral, the drums still present, more as echoes, eventually dropping out completely, leaving nothing but shadowy tones to drift weightless in a sky full of FX. Weird as hell, even for a band who already traffic in the weird, but if you're into droney heavy fucked up ambient drum heavy noise drenched weirdness, then In The Empty Wreckage Of A Dream should definitely hit the spot.
MPEG Stream: "In The Empty Wreckage Of A Dream I"
MPEG Stream: "In The Empty Wreckage Of A Dream II"

LIGHT OF SHIPWRECK Through The Bilge Lies A Calm And Bloodless Sea (Waterscape) 3"cd-r 10.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We were totally blown away by the Light Of Shipwreck cd-r released on Crucial Bliss a while back, and have been anxiously waiting for more. That disc was compared to Steve Reich, Brian Eno, Can and Earth by the label, but we were hearing Wolf Eyes, This Heat and The Necks.
We still hear all of that here to a certain degree, but LoS's whole sound has been reimagined and the results are pretty mindblowing. The record begins with a swirling sea of shimmering tones, of deep resonant rumbles and skittery processed rhythms, more textural really than rhythmic, melodies drawn out into long streaks of sound, a strange whirring slow motion driftscape, wrapped around a stuttering almost-rhythm, which eventually explodes into a dubbed out brittle beat, the beat heavily effected and allowed to slip into a sea of churning guitar growl and blurred soft noise, until those dubbed out drums return, and the track is transformed into some off kilter post rock, free noise, free jazz krautrock jam. But even that doesn't last, as the track quickly shifts into something much more tranquil, a haunting confluence of various layers and textures, the tones seem to glow and pulse, overlapping and intermingling, a less digital more lo-fi Oval perhaps, a Tim Hecker-ish dronescape, all bleary and blurry and washed out and dreamlike, but rough around the edges, a bit raw, the sounds organic and deep, woven into creeping minor key melodies and long expanses of crumbling shimmer. So awesome.
Packaged in a full color cover, housed in a mini vinyl sleeve, with a full color printed insert, each copy hand numbered. Pressed on cool blue cd-r's. And LIMITED TO ONLY 50 COPIES!!!!
RealAudio clip: "Through The Bilge Lies A Calm And Bloodless Sea 1"

LIGHT SHALL PREVAIL Defeat The Reign Of The Horned One Through The Light Of Christ (E.E.E. Recordings) cd-r 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Who would have thought that there was a world of black metallers out there bowing before the Lord, and no, not the Dark Lord, the, um LORD Lord. You know... Jesus Christ. God. It's true, there's a whole world of UN-black metal out there, white metal, with all the buzz and blast and then some, but none of the evil. Up until now, the spirit of these bands while not a secret, tended to be more subtle. With titles like "Goatcrush", "To The Unholy", "Unblackened", still sounded pretty evil, and band names like Agathothodion, Glaciial, Flaskavsae, if one weren't paying attention, one might be forgiven for thinking these bands were indeed true grim black metal.
But now we have the latest from Light Shall Prevail (get it?), whose new cd-r pulls no punches, especially with the title: "Defeat The Reign Of The Horned One Through The Light Of Christ." Okay. This is some seriously, spiritual, totally positive, but still extremely harsh and buzzing and ultra fucked up Un-black metal. Those of you who remember our review of Light Shall Prevail's last ep, might just remember us hailing the song "Goatcrush" as maybe the best black metal song EVER!!! And this disc has about ten contenders for the very same honor.
When you actually think about it, these bands are indeed true, and not even just in a religious sense, they are true to their vision, and their ideals. Although we're not exactly sure what it is exactly that makes white metal so completely and amazingly twisted and tweaked. But we like it! As grim as any black metal band you can name, in fact, if anything the sound of these bands, Light Shall Prevail especially, is more grim and true, unique and fucked up, way more individual and out there than the majority of the cookie cutter black metal bands we hear every day. Light Shall Prevail is the work of E.H. who also runs the mighty E.E.E. label and who has been releasing amazing and totally brilliant unblack metal for a decade now. We've reviewed records by Glaciial, Light Shall Prevail, Agathothodion, but there's tons of other amazing white metal bands, Bedeiah, Whispers From A Dead World, Drommer, Offerblod, Dark Procession, Wrathful Plague, Aristaeus, Nahum, Flaskavsae, With Fire, Elgibbor, Moiriah, we can't keep up. We've discovered this whole new trove of mind blowing (un)black metal and we can not get enough!
Light Shall Prevail might be the closest to sounding like a classic Norwegian style black metal band, however, there are plenty of elements that will have you alternating between scratching your head, banging it wildly and bowing it in reverence. The drums are a machine, and thus do some fucked up things no human drummer could (or would) do, whether its' stuttering impossible fast and machinelike, or sounding processed and overblown way down in the murky buzz, then there's the recording, super lo-fi, so much so that the blown out in the red distortion and tape hiss and all the various recording inconsistencies are as much a part of the sound as the riffs or the vocals, and holy shit, the vocals, from alien sleestak garble to weird anguished howl to demonic shriek. And the songs just rule. killer riffs, convoluted arrangements, trippy psychedelic breakdowns, fucked up dubbed out drum parts, guitars that go from weird processed stutter, to insectoid buzz to reverb drenched twang, usually within the same song.
A couple of our customers absolutely refused to pick up any of these unblack records, they were seemingly offended by the idea of unblack black metal, but ultimately it's their loss. We'd venture to guess that 99% of black metal fans (and probably bands for that matter), aren't actually Satanists anyway and very probably like the music FOR the music, not for the corpse paint or the spikes or the faux scary grimness, and as cool and fun as it is to get into the whole theater of it, the mysterious forest born black metal, the corpse-painted wraiths spewing hateful sounds direct from the depths of hell... ultimately, this is MUSIC, pure and simple, dark, mysterious, fucked up, passionate, buzzing, brutal, grim, blackened, brilliant music, and Light Shall Prevail are most definitely all of those things and more....
MPEG Stream: "The Lament Of The Prophet"
MPEG Stream: "Wicked Deeds Of The Rich"
MPEG Stream: "The Remnant Regathered"

LIGHT SHALL PREVAIL Goatcrush (E.E.E. Recordings) cd-r ep 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We talk about black metal all the time. Cuz, we love it. A lot. The blacker and more evil the better. Harsh and hateful, nihilistic and brutal, true evil rendered in sound!
But why exactly are the black metal hordes so angry? What exactly are they fighting against? God? The Christians? The powers of Good? Themselves? Well if we've learned anything, it's that good can not exist without evil. Dark can not exist without light, and black metal can not exist without white metal.
What?
That's right, it's time for the darkness to be pushed back a bit. It's time for that age old battle to be fought with buzzing riffs and thrashing blast beats, howled anguished vocals and rumbling low end. And at the front lines are Light Shall Prevail, masters of their own bizarre black metal buzz. That's right, it's still black metal, in fact, this white metal is more black and fucked up and awesomely weird than most of the more 'true' and 'grim' stuff we hear all the time.
Strange off kilter riffing, insanely fast blasts (either a drum machine, or an unbelievable drummer), super damaged start stop arrangements, weirdly catchy melodies, all prickly and tangled up in the fuzzy black ambience. A super heavy, but still lo-fi production. And the vocals. SO nuts, From monstrous growls, to Urfaust like croon, to shrieked howl. Such an awesome combination. Lots of midtempo chug mixed in with the buzzing blasts too. In fact just listen to the title track, probably the weirdest, catchiest black metal song EVER, with it's convoluted stop start gallop. So fucking cool.
Absolutely essential black metal listening. Even for the grim and evil amongst you. Once you hear this buzzing brilliance you won't be able to resist the power of the light. Just don't get too close, lest your black soul be cleansed and redeemed!
MPEG Stream: "Goatcrush"
MPEG Stream: "Refusal Of Damnation"
MPEG Stream: "The Call To Repentance"

LIGHT SHALL PREVAIL I Long To Destroy The Darkness Forever (E.E.E. Recordings) 3xcd-r 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This whole unblack metal movement is still relatively new for us, having only discovered this burgeoning scene within the last year, but we've become sort of obsessed, going totally nuts for records from Drommer (reviewed elsewhere on this list), Glaciial, Agathothodion, and the band that seems to sort of rule and define the scene, Light Shall Prevail, whose main man also runs the mighty E.E.E. label, home to pretty much all our favorite unblack artists.
We've reviewed two LSP discs, the Goatcrush ep (featuring what Andee considers to be maybe one of the greatest black metal songs of all time, the stuttering convoluted title track) and the most recent full length Defeat The Reign Of The Horned One Through The Light Of Christ. Both completely mindblowing, buzzy and blasting but super strange and not at all like the rest of the black metal we hear. Well, apparently, LSP has been recording like crazy for the last few years and I Long To Destroy The Darkness Forever contains every bit of recorded material to date, excluding the two proper releases. And while there's plenty of blasting buzz and epic un-blackness, it's the early lo-fi stuff that is totally blowing our mind. It's easy to see why the newer more polished stuff is still so weird, cuz the early stuff is so completely damaged and bizarrely brilliant.
Going all the way back to 2003, the majority of the first disc is culled from one of the first LSP recording and goes from ultra lo-fi grim buzz, to strange mechanical, almost industrial buzz and stutter, at times almost sounding like a skipping cd, or some 4 tracked industrial house music, but with creepy keyboards and growled vocals, the drums and guitar so distorted that a few tracks almost sound like some sort of weird fuzz collage, underpinned by impossibly quiet beats, and creepy gurgles, but sometimes blissing out into what almost sounds like some weird jangly buzz pop. The last three tracks on the first disc are the earliest, and are pretty killer too, not quite as fucked up sounding, more like a killer grim practice space recording, all blown out cymbals and muted insectoid buzz, but as with future E.E.E. productions, completely unhinged vocals, impossible low vomitous growls that spill over the rest of the music like some spewed black bile. So good.
Disc two jumps ahead 2 or 3 years, and things are still pretty weird, fuzzed out indie jangle, lots of tape hiss, but the metal is much heavier, with louder guitar, weird programmed drums, and another bizarre vocal inflection, a screeched anguished mewl that sometimes dips into a growly grunt. The riffs totally slay and the groundwork is being set for future LSP aktions. Some track still veer into some serious fucked up sonic territory, cymbals so hot and sizzling they swallow up everything around them, long expanses of Skaters' style lo-fi murk, and a few moments of strange black balladry.
Finally, disc three, culled from two split releases from last year, finds LSP sounding pretty much like they do now, a confusionally brilliant and baffling black metal buzz, from furious thrashing blasts, to loping midtempo lurch, to strange ambient strum and shuffle, to doomy trudge, to blissy drift and back again, with fucked up vocals, amazingly convoluted drum machine programming, incredible riffs, all sorts of fuzzy and buzzy ambience, just absolutely some of the most original and intense (un) black metal we've ever heard.
Packaged in a slim triple jewel case with NO tray card, so don't panic, that's the way they come. A photocopied cd booklet with all the track info and liner notes inside.
And of course, this is ULTRA LIMITED! And ALREADY OUT OF PRINT! We took more than half of the pressing, but even so, these won't be around long...
MPEG Stream: "Stuck In The Black Ice"
MPEG Stream: "Lay Flowers On My Grave"
MPEG Stream: "One"
MPEG Stream: "Three"

LIGHT SHALL PREVAIL Retrospective - A Collection Of Rare And Unreleased Tracks: 2001-2005 (E.E.E. Recordings) cd-r 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We're not sure which is more amazing, the brilliant hypnotic blackness that is the damaged unblack metal of Light Shall Prevail, or the impossibly varied sound quality each track displays. Granted these were all recorded at various times, and in various places, but most bands tend to use the same 4 track or 8 track, so the variances are slight, but these tracks are all over the map, from blasting ear splitting drums and barely audible guitars, to blown out in the red speaker frying fury, to muddy murky fuzzy blur, to damaged tape dropout buzz, but the thing is, it's like having another instrument. It's almost as if instead of using a different effect, or some strange instrument, the studio became the instrument, as if some songs required crazy ultra distorted production, while others needed to be super clean, same with the guitars, they go from brittle jangle to muddy buzz, all of it fucking gorgeous and demented.
Let's back up a few steps. Light Shall Prevail is spearheading an ever growing movement of un-black metal, white metal, Christian metal, and in doing so creating some of the most original, most damage, most fucked up, and most brilliant (un)black metal we've heard in forever. Not only that, but he also runs the E.E.E. label who seem to single handedly be spreading the word, unleashing cd-r after cd-r of amazing and perplexing unblackness on the world. By now avid readers of the AQ list should have already been exposed to some of our favorite unblack metal bands: the "non-religious dark ambient" of Drommer, the white metal super group Glaciial, Light Shall Prevail obviously, and the bizarre un-blackness of Agathothodion. There's so much good stuff we can barely keep up. A bunch of the best tracks will be compiled for a future double disc un-black compilation on Andee's tUMULt label, but for now we whole heartedly recommend tracking down every single E.E.E. release you can. They're all heavy and weird and fucked up and amazing. None maybe more than this one, another collection of unreleased tracks from unblack flagship outfit Light Shall Prevail.
Beginning with a 38 second track of nothing but tape buzz sort of sets the mood, with "The Dark Dark Fortress" following up right afterwards, a moody looping riff, simple blasting drums, and a demonic throat shredding shriek that pins the needles, sends everything in the red and swallows all the other instruments whole. There seems to be only one part, but it's a good one, with the vocals doing impossible and harsh things, soaring and shrieking and adding a whole layer of distorted damage to the buzzing droning blackness. "There Is Something In The Trees" is next, with a killer super poppy riff, very Nirvana-esque, with drums buried WAY down in the mix, almost like a super rapid heartbeat, all except for the high-hat, and the vocals are a slowed down gargle, dripping over everything like melting black tar, and again, it a single mesmerizing riff looped over and over and over until we're totally mesmerized and under its spell. "One Thousand Winters, is ultra lo-fi, the guitars a mere whisper, the drums a relentless machine, sounding not unlike a typewriter gone haywire.
"Stuck In The Black Ice" might bee one of our favorites, beginning with muted muddy jangle guitar, before the drums (and the distortion kick in) and suddenly everything is ultra distorted, totally saturated, crumbling and blown out, the vocals and the guitar both competing for midrange space, the drums a throbbing blast of muddy hiss, so completely fierce and furious and so goddamn great. "Lay Flowers On My Grave" is doomy and midtempo, the guitars barely audible, bathed in flanger, slowly whirring through its cycle, the drums relentless, a simple click-click-click, the vocals, sung-spoken, in a demented drawl, everything distant and washed out sounding, adding even more melancholia to the depressive despondent vibe, and the breakdown where the main guitar drops out, leaving a faraway clean guitar, the haunting vocals and that never ending single beat rhythm, is ultra creepy indeed.
The rest of the collection continues in the same gloriously haphazard trajectory. Every track simple and buzzing, the guitars a veritable spectrum of various shades of buzz and murk and mud and blur and blow out, the vocals too, from hysterical shriek to maniacal mumble to super distorted cookie monster to growled guttural grunt, the drums a constant mesmerizing pulse, at times it's almost like some experimental noise rock record, incorporating black metal elements, but at other times, it's still some of the most raw and intensely personal metal we've heard. EVER.
MPEG Stream: "The Dark Dark Fortress"
MPEG Stream: "There Is Something In The Trees"
MPEG Stream: "One Thousand Winters"
MPEG Stream: "Stuck In The Black Ice"

LIGHT SHALL PREVAIL Unearthen Hymns Of Revolt (E.E.E. Recordings) cd-r 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
By now, it should be painfully obvious, that around these parts we seriously love our damaged and demented, fucked up and freaky music. The weirder the better, be it strange production, inept playing, shoddy recording, or truly inspired madness, we can't get enough strange sounds. The sad thing is that many of our favorite strange sound makers, gradually evolve, which is not always bad thing, but often means as bands getÊbetter, as the recordings get tighter, the production more polished, the songwriting less haphazard, well, often a band begins to sound more and more like the rest of the regular bands, and less like all the things that made them so unique and special.Ê
Thankfully, such is not the case with king of the unblack scene, Light Shall Prevail. This is the fifth or sixth release so far from this one man Christian black metal band, and most definitely the tightest and most polished, but just as far out, fucked up, brilliant and blackened as any records past. Sure some of the older stuff benefited from insane production, turning black blasts into buzzing smears of what the fuck, or making blurred frosty riffage sound like alien house music, and on Goatcrush, he may have crafted the greatest chunk of buzzing blackness EVER, in the title track, be it black, unblack or whatever... ButÊUnearthen Hymns Of Revolt is another glorious step in his songwriting evolution, and a definite step up in production and we're loving it. No matter how much we dug all the fucked up weirdness in the past, at the heart of all of those tracks, every one, was an amazing riff, and a killer song. Now it's just easier to hear them.Ê
Three songs may seem like an ep, but these three looong tracks add up to almost thirty minutes. And as usual, every inch is packed with roiling buzzing fuzzed out blasts, insane programmed drums, bizarre super effected vocals, all tangled up into super complex and convoluted arrangements that manage to be trancelike and droney at the same time. We've gushed like crazy about LSP, the E.E.E. label, all the other unblack bands, check the AQ site for more words and sounds testifying as to the baffling brilliance of this stuff. Needless to say, if you're already a convert, you need this one too, and if you've yet to be baptized in the unblack waters of Light Shall Prevail, this is as good a place to start as any. In fact, it might be the best place to start, as these three tracks sound the most like classic grim black metal out of any of the previously released LSP stuff. But what makes it all so great, is that the weirdness, the fucked up-ness still lurks right below the surface, revealing themselves more and more on subsequent listens. Trust us, some of the best (un)black metal you'll ever hear. Check out the last few minutes of the 15+ minute closer, as the guitars begin to digitally crumble, the drums splintering into clouds of sizzle and skitter, a weird blackened meltdown, so bizarre and so fucking awesome. And how about the best (un)black metal song title ever: "Bonded By (His) Blood". Needless to say SO RECOMMENDED.Ê
And while you're at it, order ALL the E.E.E. stuff, not only is it all amazing, but the label recently had their headquarters broken into and burgled, losing tons of money and equipment, instruments and computers, they're amazing folks, making amazing music and could use the support!!
MPEG Stream: "Spake"
MPEG Stream: "Bonded By (His) Blood"

LIGHT, THE Turn On... The Light (UT Records) cd 13.98

LIGHTNING s/t (Arf! Arf!) cd 14.98

LIGHTNING BOLT Earthly Delights (Load) cd 14.98
It's hard to believe it's been almost 4 years since the last Lightning Bolt record. It does seem like they've been touring pretty much nonstop for the last decade, and nothing compares to seeing these guys live, set up on the floor, right in the middle of the pit, the volume deafening, the energy contagious, the playing frantic and furious, these guys are pretty untouchable live, and the way they make such a din with just bass and drums, makes all other rhythm section duos sound sad in comparison. And while records rarely capture the intensity of live performances, LB records have been pretty consistently kick ass, heavy and complex, a bit murky and lo-fi. but if you've ever seen the band, their equipment looks like they built it from scraps, so one might imagine the recordings would be similarly haphazard.
Earthly Delights picks up pretty much right where Hypermagic Mountain left off. The bass buzzes and sings, somehow filling up the low end, while spitting out squiggly melodies, the drums galloping wildly, explosive fills, jumbled math melting rhythms, the vocals super distorted yelps, the songs weirdly catchy, or if not specifically catchy in the traditional sense, the repeated riffs and motifs get lodged in your head, and you pretty much want them to go on forever, and they sort of do. And the thing is, not a whole lot has changed in the ensuing years since the last record, but why should anything have changed? You don't fix what ain't broke, and anyway, NO ONE sounds like Lightning Bolt, and they were already insanely tight, so not sure things could get any tighter, if anything, it's just another batch of bad ass LB jams, which is more then enough. Of course there's the very metal 12 minute closing track, that will have you wondering how the fuck any one can play like that non stop for 12 whole minutes, which will then lead you to wonder how they play like that for a WHOLE SET. Better not to wonder, just let them do their superhuman noise rock thing, you just sit back and enjoy it, or better yet jump around like crazy and try to keep up.
MPEG Stream: "Sound Guardians"
MPEG Stream: "Nation Of Boar"
MPEG Stream: "Transmissionary"

LIGHTNING BOLT Earthly Delights (Load) 2lp 17.98
It's hard to believe it's been almost 4 years since the last Lightning Bolt record. It does seem like they've been touring pretty much nonstop for the last decade, and nothing compares to seeing these guys live, set up on the floor, right in the middle of the pit, the volume deafening, the energy contagious, the playing frantic and furious, these guys are pretty untouchable live, and the way they make such a din with just bass and drums, makes all other rhythm section duos sound sad in comparison. And while records rarely capture the intensity of live performances, LB records have been pretty consistently kick ass, heavy and complex, a bit murky and lo-fi. but if you've ever seen the band, their equipment looks like they built it from scraps, so one might imagine the recordings would be similarly haphazard.
Earthly Delights picks up pretty much right where Hypermagic Mountain left off. The bass buzzes and sings, somehow filling up the low end, while spitting out squiggly melodies, the drums galloping wildly, explosive fills, jumbled math melting rhythms, the vocals super distorted yelps, the songs weirdly catchy, or if not specifically catchy in the traditional sense, the repeated riffs and motifs get lodged in your head, and you pretty much want them to go on forever, and they sort of do. And the thing is, not a whole lot has changed in the ensuing years since the last record, but why should anything have changed? You don't fix what ain't broke, and anyway, NO ONE sounds like Lightning Bolt, and they were already insanely tight, so not sure things could get any tighter, if anything, it's just another batch of bad ass LB jams, which is more then enough. Of course there's the very metal 12 minute closing track, that will have you wondering how the fuck any one can play like that non stop for 12 whole minutes, which will then lead you to wonder how they play like that for a WHOLE SET. Better not to wonder, just let them do their superhuman noise rock thing, you just sit back and enjoy it, or better yet jump around like crazy and try to keep up.
MPEG Stream: "Sound Guardians"
MPEG Stream: "Nation Of Boar"
MPEG Stream: "Transmissionary"

LIGHTNING BOLT Hypermagic Mountain (Load) cd 14.98
Hypermagic Mountain leaves the popular Rhode Island spazz-core duo Lightning Bolt's other records huffing glue and passed out in the dust, believe it or not. On the bass, Brian Gibson covers some of the same wandering scale build-up stuff he's always done, but with so much more intensity and concentration... and needless to say SO MUCH FASTER!! Hard to believe a bass can produce riffs and licks as insane as these. In fact, when the drums drop out and the bass is left to go nuts, it almost sounds like Van Halen's "Eruption". Woah. And drummer Brian Chippendale is as impenetrable as he's been in the past but again, SO MUCH FASTER. WTF?! Did they take some sort of vegan super-power pills? There's also a healthy smathering (a slathering? a lathering? more than a smattering) of hard-rock riffage all over the place that in conjunction with endless super-speed drum insanity (note drumnerds: only one kick drum), create an amazing and noise-manic rockin' sound.
And was ist dat? Woah again! Some choicest moments indeed start to reference a sense of "song", moreso than we've ever heard from them before. We're damn impressed! In so many different ways, this album is incredibly surprising. As mind-numbingly stand-alone awesome as they were before, they are so much more now somehow. LB records have always been a strange beast in terms of production, c'mon, how would YOU record a wall of ear melting bass and non stop spastic drum splatter? But it was never really about sound quality, the production was an afterthought really, who cares when you're soaked in sweat and pinballing around a dayglo pit. The recording quality here is a bit muddier than their previous, already sort of a little muddy sounding albums Wonderful Rainbow and Ride The Skies, but it suits this ultra riffy LB of new for sure. Longtime 'Bolt fans have probably been hankering for greater levels of grit and distortion anyway, like in the old days, so it makes perfect sense that their new sound only adds to their spiffy new riffier hard-rocking maelstrom!
MPEG Stream: "2 Morro Morro Land"
MPEG Stream: "Captain Caveman"

LIGHTNING BOLT Hypermagic Mountain (Load) lp 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Hypermagic Mountain leaves the popular Rhode Island spazz-core duo Lightning Bolt's other records huffing glue and passed out in the dust, believe it or not. On the bass, Brian Gibson covers some of the same wandering scale build-up stuff he's always done, but with so much more intensity and concentration... and needless to say SO MUCH FASTER!! Hard to believe a bass can produce riffs and licks as insane as these. In fact, when the drums drop out and the bass is left to go nuts, it almost sounds like Van Halen's "Eruption". Woah. And drummer Brian Chippendale is as impenetrable as he's been in the past but again, SO MUCH FASTER. WTF?! Did they take some sort of vegan super-power pills? There's also a healthy smathering (a slathering? a lathering? more than a smattering) of hard-rock riffage all over the place that in conjunction with endless super-speed drum insanity (note drumnerds: only one kick drum), create an amazing and noise-manic rockin' sound.
And was ist dat? Woah again! Some choicest moments indeed start to reference a sense of "song", moreso than we've ever heard from them before. We're damn impressed! In so many different ways, this album is incredibly surprising. As mind-numbingly stand-alone awesome as they were before, they are so much more now somehow. LB records have always been a strange beast in terms of production, c'mon, how would YOU record a wall of ear melting bass and non stop spastic drum splatter? But it was never really about sound quality, the production was an afterthought really, who cares when you're soaked in sweat and pinballing around a dayglo pit. The recording quality here is a bit muddier than their previous, already sort of a little muddy sounding albums Wonderful Rainbow and Ride The Skies, but it suits this ultra riffy LB of new for sure. Longtime 'Bolt fans have probably been hankering for greater levels of grit and distortion anyway, like in the old days, so it makes perfect sense that their new sound only adds to their spiffy new riffier hard-rocking maelstrom!
MPEG Stream: "2 Morro Morro Land"
MPEG Stream: "Captain Caveman"

LIGHTNING BOLT Ride The Skies (Load) cd 15.98
This is the long-awaited, highly anticipated full length release from Providence, RI's amazing bass and drums duo LIGHTNING BOLT! Imagine Tokyo drums/bass duo Ruins in their early years: way obvious prog influence and heavy as fuck, then subtract the zeuhl (Magma) inspired vocals and substitute a super distorted vocal scree (supplied by drummer Chippendale via contact mic shoved down his throat and secured by a tight fitting spandex mask, or something like that). But although Lightning Bolt exhibit the dexterity of the Ruins (who themselves are no strangers to noise) the particular sort of abrasive sound LB generates places them closer to (but beyond) that other infamous drums/bass outfit, Godheadsilo. The distorted bass frequencies are less a side product of their songs than a building block of their compositions themselves...which often build up to a point where instrumental precision blurs, parts being played so fast and/or repetitively to achieve a mind-numbing stasis, a kinetic drone-buzz. On "Ride the Skies", our dynamic duo rips out eight tracks of spastic, nervous energy. If you're familiar with their past releases, you'll notice a cleaner production, which is almost shocking given their aesthetic of noise and, well, shitty production (it suited them, really). However, the new sound only proves their acrobatic abilities and dynamicism, and it'll still drill the wax out of your ears. Great! The screenprinted vinyl edition was lovingly hand crafted at the now defunct Fort Thunder in Providence, RI.
MPEG Stream: "Forcefield"
MPEG Stream: "Saint Jacques"

LIGHTNING BOLT Ride The Skies (Load) lp 10.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This is the long-awaited, highly anticipated full length release from Providence, RI's amazing bass and drums duo LIGHTNING BOLT! Imagine Tokyo drums/bass duo Ruins in their early years: way obvious prog influence and heavy as fuck, then subtract the zeuhl (Magma) inspired vocals and substitute a super distorted vocal scree (supplied by drummer Chippendale via contact mic shoved down his throat and secured by a tight fitting spandex mask, or something like that). But although Lightning Bolt exhibit the dexterity of the Ruins (who themselves are no strangers to noise) the particular sort of abrasive sound LB generates places them closer to (but beyond) that other infamous drums/bass outfit, Godheadsilo. The distorted bass frequencies are less a side product of their songs than a building block of their compositions themselves...which often build up to a point where instrumental precision blurs, parts being played so fast and/or repetitively to achieve a mind-numbing stasis, a kinetic drone-buzz. On "Ride the Skies", our dynamic duo rips out eight tracks of spastic, nervous energy. If you're familiar with their past releases, you'll notice a cleaner production, which is almost shocking given their aesthetic of noise and, well, shitty production (it suited them, really). However, the new sound only proves their acrobatic abilities and dynamicism, and it'll still drill the wax out of your ears. Great! The screenprinted vinyl edition was lovingly hand crafted at the now defunct Fort Thunder in Providence, RI.

LIGHTNING BOLT s/t (Load) cd 12.98
Finally, the debut LP from Providence, RI's Lightning Bolt gets reissued! Now on cd for the first time, with over forty minutes of bonus live material! When this record first hit the streets a couple of years ago, people either instantly fell in love with or completely despised this band. With its shitty production (basically the equivalent of a dictaphone set on the floor right between the drums and monster bass cabinets), it's understandable that some wrote this off as some wanky noise-art-rock act. But for the few and proud that could withstand the muck, there lied a wonderfully hypnotic, repetitive machine, heavy as fuck and amazing, as it was only two boys, Brian Chippendale (drums, vocals) and Brian Gibson (bass). Only after witnessing the duo's incredible live performance did people start to understand the intensity and complexity inherent in Lightning Bolt. Listening to this document now isn't nearly as exciting as when it first surfaced, solely due to the fact that Brian and Brian have gone on to write more complex songs and produce more dense and dynamic recordings, not to mention the fact that their current live set is tighter, faster, louder and the crowd is way more crazy and out of control! But until the next record surfaces, this reissue will hold over fans, old and new, as there are previously unreleased live recordings aplenty. Fans of Ruins and Godheadsilo take note if you haven't already, though ultimately Lightning Bolt is a completely different beast altogether... Undoubtedly recommended.
RealAudio clip: "Into The Valley"
RealAudio clip: "Fleeing The Valley Of Whirling Knives"